I have been pretty happy with how my training had been going. With a 4th place overall finish last year, I was coming into this race looking to do something special. Unfortunately the weather had decided to play a factor and caused the race director to use an alternate route for the bike section. The rain was just too much for the single track trails for us to use them without completely tearing them up. This was a bit of a disappointment for me. I'm not really the best at single track riding, but I do love it and wanted some practice racing it. The more open paved, gravel, and field sections actually played to my favor I thought. However, upon pulling into the race site, I was surrounded by racers with their cyclocross bikes. What!? I didn't even consider that as I thought it wouldn't be allowed. My advantage just turned back into a disadvantage. No bother, I was still feeling fast and felt I still had a shot to stay with the best of them.
I'm pretty used to doing a setup in transition to have everything I need ready. The biggest question marks was with the temps. It was a little cold but seeming to warm up. Disliking the cold, I decided to start warm and could dump layers in transition if needed. I also left a hood in transition in case I thought I'd need it for under my helmet for the bike. A quick bathroom break and I was ready for this party to get started. There was a decent amount of pre-race instructions with the changed up course. We were going to be close to some roads, but were instructed to stay off of them because we didn't have the permits for that. I was thinking to myself that I hoped nobody cheats that as it would be a huge advantage. Soon enough, we were all toeing the line awaiting the start. It seemed like people were tentative to be at the front of the race, so I wasn't shy about being right up in there. A mini accidentally air horn and we're off, followed by a much louder, more deliberate air horn. Ha!
We were on our way... I stayed just back from the true front of the race and tried to settle into a comfortable pace. There is a little unknown with the people around you possiby doing just the trail run, or being part of a team. I stayed in the top 8 or so runners on the mostly paved route to the actual trail section. It didn't take long for my first distraction. Within the first half mile I'd already had a shoe string come untied. Oh well, I pressed on and would wait to see if it would actually cause me any trouble before wasting time fixing it. The trails were fun and were actually in decent condition. I was admit-tingly expecting a lot of slop. There's a lot of steep uphills and downhills, but nothing with a prolonged climb or descent. Some of the turns in the trails were pretty sharp and held you speed in check to stay on course and in control. About half way through, my other shoe came untied as well. Sheesh! Maybe it would have
been smart to take the time to tie them, but I never did. I had settled into a comfortable pace and was staying within sight of the next 3-4 runners in front of me. It also appeared that I was the last of the lead group and there was a decent gap after me to the rest. I remember thinking to myself that I was probably going to easy, but I didn't want to burn out early and not have anything for the bike. Soon enough we came out of the woods and were headed towards transition back on the paved section. Thinking ahead, I was prepared to lose my jacket, and not worry about anything under my helmet. I started shedding the jacket before even getting to my bike to save time. I forgot to unvelcro the wrist straps and it caused me a little extra effort to pull my sleeves free. I guess it was a good thing I started that process early and was done with it by the time I got to my bike.
Transition was pretty quick from there. Drop the jacket and lose the already untied shoes. Put on my biking shoes and helmet, and I'm out! Ran out to the mount area, hopped on, and was on my way. There was a biker just in front of me and he was taking time to get a drink. I took that time to pass him. I was only ahead for a few seconds when he overtook me in the grass heading for the first climb. He took a wrong line and I slowly peddled past while he dismounted and had to run the rest of the way up.
It didn't take long for him to catch back up on the paved trail section with his cyclocross bike though. I was forced to just push hard and try to hang on. There was a lot of gravel and loose soil around turns that were forcing me to be careful to avoid a crash. I came close a couple times, but managed to get my wheels back under me without incident. Finally away from the paved sections for a while, I was able to catch up to the cyclocross rider in front of me and he had caught the rider in front of him. We passed a voulenteer that was telling us our place, I was 8th. It was a bit of a let down actually, but there were some places ready for the taking just in front of me. The cyclocross rider made his pass and I did soon after as well. The course really didn't give us a chance to let up at all to catch our breath. My fitness was good and that played into my favor.
My cyclocross target was wearing down and I was reeling him in. I also was able to see the rider in front of him, Doug Havlin, a known good triathlete racer. I keep the pressure on and soon got the pass and was chasing Doug. I was reeling him in as well, and that was a boost. That's when I saw Doug sit up a bit looking confused. We had made a wrong turn and were back to a section of the course we had already done. OH NO! A wasted half mile or more. No time to shed tears and we pushed on realizing our mistake and getting on track. Unfortunately, it was back to the paved section for the long straight heading towards the finish. I had Doug in front of me on a hybrid and possibly the guy behind me on a cyclocross bike (if he hadn't overtaken us both during the wrong turn). I pushed hard and was catching Doug. The 75 meters was widdled away to 15-20. There was a last little grass loop at the finish and I was holding onto hope of a catch. I kept the pressure on and was ready to take advantage in the case of a mistake, slip, or trip over the barracade just before the finish. He made it through cleanly and I came in close on his heels.
I got some of the good post-race food and drinks. I congratulated Doug for a hard fought battle to the finish and talked to him about the wrong turn. We think we lost at least 1 spot there. I talked to some other racers and friends before having to head out before the results were posted or awards handed out. I actually still don't know where I ended up. I could have been 6th unless I got passed during the wrong turn section. I had Kourtney from the
Arnold Trek Store who was going to be around to pick up any award for me if I had managed to get one. I would have loved to stick around, but it was my both my parent's birthday celebration weekend that couldn't be missed! They are both turning 70 this year and there was a fun weekend planned with a picnic, hiking, eating, cake, presents, and a zip line obsticle course at
Go Ape!
I just saw the results posted! I was 4th Overall and 2nd in my Age Group.
Here's some other links for information about the race:
Race Results and Race photos
Facebook Event Page
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